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R E V I E W S
Closet,
The (2001)
Starring:
Daniel Auteuil, Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Depardieu, Michèle
Laroque, Michel Aumont.
Director: Francis Veber Rating:
R Studio:
Miramax Review
Posted:
7.5.01
Rating:
1.5/4
By Sara M. Fetters.
"French
Farce The Closet a
Door Best Left Closed"
The
famed French director Francis Veber has made his mark with some
of the great French comedies of the past three-plus decades. The
Tall Blonde Man with One Black Shoe, Les
Compères, La Cage aux
Folles and most recently the utterly hilarious The
Dinner Game are all due to his comedic genius. In a way,
he’s also responsible for a string of completely awful
American films remade from his classics such as the Robin
Williams/Billy Crystal turkey Father’s
Day, Richard Pryor’s abysmal The
Toy and – a film which he remade disastrously himself –
the Martin Short/Nick Nolte comedy Three
Fugitives. (Not included, Mike Nichols’ recent remake of La
Cage aux Folles starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane The
Birdcage which actually improved upon the original.)
Now
making its way across the Atlantic is Veber latest sex comedy
– a smash in his home country – The
Closet which attempts to satirize homophobia, corporate
policy and individual ethics all while keeping the audience
rolling in the aisles. While there are laughs to be had, on a
whole Veber’s new film is an unfunny and offensive disaster,
wasting a truckload of rich comedic talent in the process.
François
Pignon (Daniel Auteuil in a rare comedic role) works as an
accountant at a condom factory. He’s the type of dull, quiet
fellow who gets pushed out of the company photo and nobody
notices. In fact, Pignon’s about to be laid off for no other
reason than he’s quiet and boring. Crushed when learning of
this dismissal, he contemplates suicide when his new next door
neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont) comes up with a solution: start
a rumor at the factory that he’s gay. That way, for fear of
being slapped with a lawsuit for discrimination, his employers
won’t be able to fire him.
Of
course, this simple ploy works beautifully. Co-workers who once
thought of Pignon as a nobody are intrigued by their quiet
co-worker’s “secret” lifestyle. His ex-wife (Alexandra
Vandernoot) who left him for no particular reason other than he
was boring finds herself rethinking that assessment. The
accountant’s supervisor (Michèle Laroque) can’t believe it
and begins to seductively tempt Pignon in hopes of revealing him
as a fraud. Worst of all, bigoted sod Santini (Gerard Depardieu),
who was instrumental in his layoff, now has to prove to his
bosses that he’s willing to be friendly with Pignon in order
to keep his own job. Suddenly, the shy and quiet accountant is
the most talked about person at the factory and he’s not sure
keeping his job is worth all of the attention.
There
are some delicious comedic opportunities here and it is safe to
say the Veber’s screenplay misses almost all of them. The
entire film plays upon the basest of homosexual stereotypes but
it doesn’t know what to do with almost any of them. In fact,
when two factory mechanics break into Pignon’s apartment
complex at the behest of a female office worker and beat him
senseless The Closet stops being embarrassing and simply becomes insulting.
Give
the cast credit, though, for they are more than game to go
through the film’s comedic paces. Depardieu in particular has
a glorious time playing up his own rough and ready image. His
self possessed, preening Santini is wonderful and The
Closet could really use more of him. The few scenes that
really hum are due to the glorious interplay between himself and
Auteuil. They really hint at what the film could have been had
Veber let the movie ride on their coat tales instead of trying
to mix so many other ingredients into one pot.
Aside
from that, The Closet is a strong case of a missed opportunity. Veber has shown
a knack for just this sort of satire in many of his other films
but it just never comes off here. Let’s just hope there is no
American remake of this one. If the prior track record of Veber
remakes is any indication, it could only be worse.
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